1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to a method for playing a card game that includes a game board. More particularly, it relates to a game that challenges players to predict what card will be randomly drawn from a deck of cards.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A good description of the prior art in the field of this invention is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,407 to Hofberg and others. That description discusses the drawbacks of games such as slots (slot machines), poker, blackjack, and craps. Some of the games, such as slots, are too easy to play, and some of them, such as craps, are too difficult for new gamblers.
The Hofberg patent discloses a casino card game where an opening card is randomly selected from a set of cards. The position of the opening card in an ordered sequence (Ace to King) is taken as the starting position in the game play sequence. For example, if the opening card is a Jack, the game play sequence is Jack to ten (Jack, Queen, King, Ace, two, etc.). Cards are then drawn from a shuffled deck, one at a time, to see if the drawn card matches the next card in the sequence. The house wins if it does, the players win if none of the drawn cards matches the predetermined sequence. For example, the house wins in the example given if the first card drawn is a Queen, or if the second card drawn is a King, and so on. Side bets may be made as to whether the next card drawn will be a high card or a low card, a Joker, and so on.
One drawback of the Hofberg method is that the players will get the feeling that they must run a gauntlet, so to speak, because they win only if the house loses twelve consecutive times. Any match at all by the house, even on the last card drawn, defeats the players. The side bets increase the chances for the players to at least win something during the game, but most players, especially newcomers to the gaming industry, do not fully understand the concept of a side bet and consider such bets to be a distraction from the main game.
What is needed, then, is a card game where the players need not suffer through multiple card draws made by the house to see if the house eventually wins. Instead, the needed game would enable players to win or lose, or both, after each draw of a card from a shuffled set of cards.
There is also a need for a card game that teaches players about how odds work and the interplay between under-exposure to winning and over-exposure to losing.
Moreover, there is a need for a card game that may be played in a casino against the house or in a home among friends with no "house" involved.
However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in this art how the needed game could be provided.